House slows on contraception

House Republican leaders are taking their foot off the gas, slowing down plans to pass legislation taking aim at the Obama administration’s contraception coverage requirement, according to sources close to leadership.

The Senate's defeat of similar legislation last week means a House-passed version won’t become law. Although this House has passed several other reproductive health bills it knew would never make it through the Senate, some Republicans have lost their appetite for such symbolic votes as the November election comes closer.

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"I think the Senate already took action and we've got a lot else on our plate," said Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), who is running for Senate.

Some Democrats, like New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, argue that the Republicans have overplayed this issue, potentially alienating some women swing voters and galvanizing young women who hadn’t been too engaged so far this election year. The Sandra Fluke-Rush Limbaugh controversy has only added fuel to the fire. Democrats are calling on Republicans to condemn Limbaugh, while Republicans are trying to shift the conversation to things like rising gas prices.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act” has been pending in the House for months, and it would likely pass easily if brought to the floor. More than half the House — 219 members — have already signed on as co-sponsors to the bill, the companion to the measure defeated in the Senate last week sponsored by Missouri Republican Roy Blunt.

A source close to top House Republicans said that they've concluded they need to "win the debate and then win the policy." The House will continue to hold hearings, but leaders now believe the "long-term play" is more important than an easy vote in one chamber that doesn’t actually change the administration’s contraception policy.

Speaker John Boehner sounded notably cooler to the idea of pushing ahead with the Fortenberry bill almost as soon as it became clear that the Senate would defeat Blunt’s legislation. His spokesman Michael Steel, suggested Tuesday that it was up to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton to determine when the legislation would move forward.

“The bill has been referred to E&C. As the speaker has said, we intend to address the issue of protecting religious liberty carefully and deliberatively, and the committee and the Conference are determining the path forward,” Steel said.